Skirmish

05.15.11

Shootout Across India, Pakistan Border

Indian and Pakistani troops kept up cross-border fire for 30 minutes early on Sunday morning at a heavily guarded post near Jammu in the disputed Kashmir region of northern India. A spokesman for the Indian Border Security Force claimed that Pakistani troops had "opened unprovoked firing" on the post, and that they had no choice but to respond. An Indian soldier had been shot dead late on Saturday when Pakistani soldiers opened fire in the same area, he claimed. He was the first Indian soldier to be killed by Pakistani soldiers in a year, and his death has sparked new tensions in the region. A Pakistani border security official confirmed the melee but said Pakistanis were not responsible for starting it, and that three Pakistani soldiers were wounded. Both countries are armed with nuclear weapons and have been rivals in the region since 1947. They agreed to a ceasefire in Kashmir in 2003, but India ended the peace brokering after the 2008 militant assault on Mumbai, which the country blamed on Pakistani-backed militants.